Women experience increased parenting stress in KP: World Bank

According to a research report issued by the World Bank, mothers of children up to six years old in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are facing serious mental health challenges, including depression, anxiety, and parenting stress.

Mother’s mental health concerns are linked to a significantly lower level of childhood development. 

The report analyses the several factors of depression, including food insecurity, financial insecurity, flood, community crimes, discrimination, and domestic violence, that result in negative consequences for both maternal mental health and child development.

As many as 28 percent of women in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 58 percent of pregnant women were found depressed in the health facility.

The study revealed that 21 percent of women in the province have generalised anxiety disorder.

According to the World Bank, the report is based on the household survey commission. The commission gathered data from 200 public schools located in the river area. 

The study revealed that the interaction of maternal depression, anxiety, and parenting stress at an earlier age are impacted negatively childhood development for (below 3 years) and older (3-6) years children.

The World Bank stated that parents in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were confronted with several risks for childhood development, such as poverty, low access to education, and inadequate coverage of social assistance, which have worsened in the last decades.

Pakistan has one of the highest rates of postpartum depression among new mothers in Asia, with prevalence ranging from 28 to 63 percent, and research also indicates that new fathers are affected too.